[lbo-talk] evo psych: balderdash

[Jeffrey Fisher]

On 5/4/05, Thomas Seay <entheogens at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> --- andie nachgeborenen
> <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > Too vague a criticism of too vague a target.
> > Contrary
> > to the received view on the left, it's not crazy to
> > think that the fact that we are biological
> > organisms,
> > specifically primate with the central nervous
> > systems
> > of hunter-gatherers, is likely to do some
> > explanatory
> > work in accounting for our behavior.
> 
> I am glad somebody here had the guts to say this.  I
> agree.
> 
> Thomas

likewise. i'm far from conversant in the EP literature, but the
article seemed to me to be attacking a straw man. maybe all the
evopsych people out there really are that reductive, but we don't have
to go that far with them in order to see explanatory power in biology,
in general, and evolution, in particular. as i think ian said, we
don't reduce everything to culture, either. or, well, i guess i don't.
i'll speak only for myself.

jesus. why do we always have to have arguments over whether or not
some approach has exclusive claims to truth? why are the only options
(a) 100% explanatory or (b) 0% explanatory?

j

-- 
Among medieval and modern philosophers, anxious to establish
the religious significance of God, an unfortunate habit has prevailed
of paying to Him metaphysical compliments.

  - Alfred North Whitehead